Insertion section for laryngoscope with lateral tube guide

Abstract

A laryngoscope insertion section for a laryngoscope, which is typically a video laryngoscope, includes a lateral tube guide configured to retain an endotracheal tube in a plane. A viewing port for a camera or other image collector is laterally displaced from the plane of the endotracheal tube. The said plane of the endotracheal tube is aligned substantially in the same plane as a patient's median plane and the tube can be advanced into the larynx using a natural curving motion similar to the motion used to introduce an endotracheal tube using a convention laryngoscope. In a preferred embodiment, the distal tip of the insertion section and a retained endotracheal tube will be located in the patient's median plane during intubation. As the tube guide retains endotracheal tubes substantially in a plane, lateral curvature is avoided, reducing resistance to advancement of the tube.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A laryngoscope blade, comprising:
 a blade body configured to be removably coupled to a rigid support member of a laryngoscope and having a proximal end and a distal end, the blade body having a housing having a cavity along a portion of the blade body between the proximal end and the distal end, wherein the cavity comprises an opening adjacent to the proximal end of the blade body and terminates in a closed transparent end face proximal to the distal end of the blade body, and wherein the cavity is configured to receive the rigid support member through the opening such that a camera disposed on a terminating end of the rigid support member is adjacent to the closed transparent end face; 
 a first tube guide disposed along a lateral surface of the blade body, wherein a proximal terminus of the first tube guide extends proximally past the opening of the cavity; and 
 a second tube guide separate from the first tube guide comprising an inferior surface and disposed distally of the first tube guide along the lateral surface of the blade body, wherein the first tube guide and the second tube guide are configured to hold an endotracheal tube under flexural tension such that the first tube guide and the second tube guide position the tube in a plane laterally offset from the closed transparent end face, and wherein the closed transparent end face comprises a surface angled relative to a longitudinal axis of the housing such that a centerline axis of the surface of the transparent end face intersects the plane forward of the distal end of the blade body. 
 
     
     
       2. The laryngoscope blade of  claim 1 , wherein the first tube guide is positioned adjacent to the proximal end of the blade body and the second tube guide is positioned adjacent to the closed transparent end face. 
     
     
       3. The laryngoscope blade of  claim 1 , wherein a terminating end of the second tube guide is positioned between the closed transparent end face and the distal end of the blade body such that a distal most tip of the second tube guide is proximal to the distal end of the blade body. 
     
     
       4. The laryngoscope blade of  claim 3 , wherein the second tube guide comprises a superior portion configured to contact and hold an exterior curve of the endotracheal tube and an inferior portion configured to contact and hold an interior curve of the endotracheal tube. 
     
     
       5. The laryngoscope blade of  claim 1 , wherein the second tube guide comprises a movable member. 
     
     
       6. The laryngoscope blade of  claim 5 , wherein the movable member comprises a proximal member positioned adjacent to an inferior outer surface of the blade body and a distal member spaced apart from the proximal member and positioned adjacent to a superior outer surface of the blade body that is opposite the inferior outer surface. 
     
     
       7. The laryngoscope blade of  claim 6 , wherein the blade body comprises a protrusion extending away from the lateral surface and configured to engage with an aperture of the proximal member to control movement of the movable member about an axis of the blade body that is perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the blade body. 
     
     
       8. The laryngoscope blade of  claim 1 , wherein the blade body comprises a spatula extending between the closed transparent end face of the cavity and the distal end of the blade body, wherein the spatula is configured to lift a patient's tissue during intubation of the patient. 
     
     
       9. The laryngoscope blade of  claim 1 , wherein the tube is held in the plane such that a distal end of the tube is held under the flexural tension, and wherein proximal portions of the tube are not under the flexural tension. 
     
     
       10. The laryngoscope blade of  claim 1 , wherein the surface is a distal surface of the closed transparent end face. 
     
     
       11. The laryngoscope blade of  claim 1 , wherein the inferior surface is curved. 
     
     
       12. A laryngoscope blade, comprising:
 a blade body configured to be removably coupled to a rigid support member of a laryngoscope and having a proximal end and a distal end, the blade body having a housing having a cavity along a portion of the blade body between the proximal end and the distal end, wherein the cavity comprises an opening adjacent to the proximal end of the blade body and terminates in a closed transparent end face proximal to the distal end of the blade body, and wherein the cavity is configured to receive the rigid support member through the opening such that a camera disposed on a terminating end of the rigid support member is adjacent to the closed transparent end face; 
 a first tube guide disposed along a lateral surface of the blade body, wherein the first tube guide is positioned along the lateral surface such that an entirety of the opening of the cavity is positioned between a proximal tube guide end and a distal tube guide end of the first tube guide; and 
 a second tube guide separate from the first tube guide comprising an inferior surface and disposed distally of the first tube guide along the lateral surface of the blade body, wherein the first tube guide and the second tube guide are configured to hold an endotracheal tube in a plane laterally offset from the closed transparent end face.